Photons and π

Chinese artist Yang Song’s Photons and π is constructed from 0.1-millimetre stainless-steel wire woven into two interlocking circular structures. Although the material remains fixed, light reflecting and refracting across the dense network of lines creates the impression of movement.

As viewers change position, the 3.5-metre sculpture shifts between solidity and transparency. Bands of brightness gather and disperse, making rigid metal appear to ripple, expand and dissolve.

The work belongs to Yang’s wider Light Filament series, through which he examines light, time, speed and cosmic scale. Here, the intertwined structure refers to quantum entanglement, where particles remain fundamentally connected. The π in the title introduces a second form of continuity through its infinite, non-repeating decimal sequence.

These scientific ideas establish the work’s conceptual framework, but its effect remains physical and immediate. Yang does not illustrate a formula. He uses precisely arranged material, controlled illumination and the viewer’s movement to create a form that never appears entirely stable.